All Saints Day Masses

There are two All Saints Day Masses on November 1 that are associated with the CSC:

12:05: Med Campus Mass

5:15: Mass at the CSC (no soup for you)

World Mass This Sunday

Join us as we celebrate the rich and vibrant heritage of our Catholic faith around the world this Sunday (October 21). Both 11am and 9pm Masses will honor our shared global tradition through a unique liturgy experience that you won't want to miss.

Election 2012: Weighing the Issues & Preparing to Vote

Thursday, Oct. 18th, 5-6pm, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Jones Hall, room 1390.

Dr. Ed Hogan, professor at Kenrick Seminary for the Archdiocese of St. Louis will talk about how to prepare for the upcoming election as a Catholic voter. Co-sponsored by the Catholic Student Organization at St. Louis College of Pharmacy.  

Food and drink provided. 

Teach-In for Justice

Passionate about social justice? Want to become more educated on various justice issues? Join us for a weekend-long trip to the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in Washington, DC, from Nov. 15-18. Contact Michelle Verner (verner@washucsc.org) for more information or an application (applications due Monday, Oct. 15; receive $50 off if you register by Monday, Oct. 8).

Newman Gala This Weekend!

The 10th Annual Newman Gala is coming up this weekend, September 29th, at the Ritz Carlton in nearby Clayton. You can still purchase tickets through Jamey Stegmaier (stegmaier@washucsc.org) at the following prices:

$125: Full Gala Ticket
$20: Dance-only ticket (9:00-12:00; for grad students and young adults)
$10: Dance-only ticket (9:00-12:00; for undergrads)
$0: Dance-only ticket (for volunteers the day/night of the Gala)

See www.cscgala.org for more information.

Sophomore/Junior Escape This Weekend

The sophomore/junior escape is coming up this Saturday! Please contact Matt Schwab at schwab@washucsc.org by this Thursday afternoon if you're interested in attending.

Discussion on Faith and Science - Sept. 17

Monday, September 17, 6:30-8pm @ CSC - Discussion on Faith and Science led by Michael and Emily, this year’s Young Catholic Scholars.

The CSC's Science and Faith Program

The Science and Faith program is a community-focused project that brings to light the intertwining of scientific study and religion to the greater CSC and Washington University communities. It will include opportunities for the CSC's scientific community to come together to learn, discuss, and grow through talks, book discussions, and other events.

Other related events later in the semester:

Saturday, October 13, 9am-3pm at the May Center - ITEST conference - scholarships available to interested students. http://faithscience.org/news.html

Monday, October 22, 6:30-8pm @ CSC - Event organized by ITEST participants to share information and conversation with CSC members.

Monday, November 12, 6:30-8pm @ CSC - TBA

Au Pair Wanted

Students and community members, a friend of the CSC, Dawn Trautmann, is looking for an au pair for her two boys. It would include room and board (the au pair would live with the family), cell phone, and use of a car, plus $150/wk--it's very comprehensive. You would need to be available from 7:00 to 8:30 every morning and 3:45 to 8:00 every evening, as well as weekend help as needed.

If you're interested, please contact Dawn at 314-482-4110 or dawn.trautmann@mcgladrey.com

If you have a connection to the CSC community and have a job posting that is relevant to students and other community members, please contact Jamey with a description at stegmaier@washucsc.org.

Freshman Escape

The CSC's annual Freshman Escape is on Saturday, Sept. 8.  These first few days and weeks of school can feel like a bit of a whirlwind, so if a day away at a lake full of swimming, boating, games, new friends, and fun times that you'll remember for the next four years sounds up your alley, contact Angela to sign up by Thursday! (kress@washucsc.org)

First Friday Mass this week, first Tuesday Mass next week

The first Friday Mass of the fall semester is in the CSC chapel this Friday (August 31) at 12:05, followed by a soup lunch. Then the first Tuesday Mass is in the CSC living room or outside next Tuesday (Sept. 4) at 5:15, followed by a soup dinner.

Open House this Friday

The CSC is hosting an open house for incoming students this Friday, August 24, from 2-4:00. Please drop by to see what the CSC is all about!

Catholicism and Gun Control

After hearing a number of questions about the Catholic Church's stance on gun control in recent weeks, CSC campus minister Cynthia Enghauser researched the topic to provide the CSC community with some answers. The opinions below are not Cynthia's personal opinions but rather the opinions of the Catholic Church. If you have any information to add that can be substantiated, please post it in the comments--we're still learning about this topic, just as you are.

The atmosphere of cookouts, vacations, and warm weather this summer has been tragically punctuated by the shootings in Aurora, CO and in Oak Creek, WI.  As a Catholic community, composed of a diverse body of women and men of faith, these tragedies evoke a spectrum of responses and emotions; from disbelief to compassion and sympathy to frustration.  Between these two shootings many were killed and injured, and  others traumatically shaken to the core.  

The ripple effects of such a tragedy are hard to imagine.  In the aftermath, other issues are emerging, and here at the CSC, a recurring question emerges:  "What is the Catholic Church's teaching on gun control?"  This is a straightforward question with complex implications.  For the Catholic Church these shootings are clearly adignity of life issue, but the issues of mental illness, domestic terrorism, and gun control all factor into the equation in a way that deepens the complexity.  While the Church supports government sanctioned requirements and restrictions on the possession of personal firearms, it is not a stance that is often boldly proclaimed.  

In the last 20 years the US Church has indirectly spoken on the issue of personal firearms and possession laws.  In the 1990 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) document, New Slavery, New Freedom: A Pastoral Message on Substance Abuse the bishops spoke of it in conjunction to drug commerce and drug abuse .  Additionally, the availability of firearms was discussed in the 1995 USCCB document Confronting a Culture of Violence:  A Catholic Framework for Action.  This document also expresses the need for advocacy at the parish and diocesan level to eliminate violent crimes for the promotion of safe communities.

In the 2000 USCCB document Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration:  A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice the bishops address the gun control issue (in relation to violent crime) from a more systemic point of view, challenging us to be more accountable for our actions.  This document calls for the elimination of violent crime, but to continue to love those who commit violent crime, and to support them on a path to redemption.  

These three documents go a long way to express the Catholic Church's stance on gun control in regard to violent crime, but are less clear about gun ownership in regard to recreational uses.  In Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration, the bishops "reiterate [a] call for sensible regulations of handguns".  At the present time the bishops support "sensible regulations of handguns", however, in both USSCB documents from 1990 and 2000 they call for "their eventual elimination from our society".  With the caveat for "police officers and military use".  

It will be interesting to see if the USCCB provides any pastoral guidance or instruction in the wake of these recent tragedies.  In the interim though, there are certainly lively and engaging conversations around these issues in Catholic intellectual samples.  Much of the debate centers on power and politics at this particular moment.  

I'd recommend starting here and here (as a note, these links/articles are editorials)

Newman Gala Auction

The CSC Gala is rapidly approaching (September 29), and you'll soon get your invitation in the mail if you're on the mailing list (anyone is welcome, so if you don't an invitation, let us know). We're using a new system for our silent auction this year that will make the auction even more exciting than usual, so we want to ensure that we have a wide variety of incredible auction items for the Gala attendees.

If you have any fun auction items (new, not used), services, gift certificates, airline miles, credit card points, or bottles of wine that you'd like to donate to the auction, you can bring them to Mass and put them in Jamey's office (make sure to label them!) or contact Jamey at stegmaier@washucsc.org. Every little bit helps to enliven the CSC student ministry!

Also, if you're thinking about attending the Gala, feel free to indicate that on the 2012 Newman Gala Facebook page. It's not an official RSVP, but it will help your friends and fellow community members know who else is attending.

Godweiser Event July 25

Troy and Emma Woytek will be leading a discussion on Theology of the Body and Natural Family Planning this Wednesday, July 25, from 7:00 to 8:30 at the CSC. Beer will be served to those 21 and up.

What to Say to Someone Who Is Sick

Fr. Gary recently gave a homily about what to say (and not to say) to someone who is sick. New CSC intern Matt Schwab typed up some of the advice from that homily for your benefit:

What you should say:

1) "Don't write me back"

Sick people should be able to just receive love and kindness without having to worry about keeping people informed.

2) "I'll be going now"

Sick people are sick. They don't feel well, but they still feel the need to entertain their guests. Don't stay too long. If you offer to leave, but they want you to stay, the sick person will tell you to stay.

3) "I don't know what to say to you right now"

Honestly is the most real way to show them you care. Being at a loss for words opens up lines of connection beyond words such as a glance or just physical closeness.

4) "Please pray for me" 

As you are leaving, ask the sick person to pray for you. You probably need it, and they are truly closer to God than you are. It also helps them to look outward a little, to feel as if they still have something to offer the world.

5) "I just care about how you are." or "I love you"

nothing fancy, just real, honest emotion

What not to say:

1) "Everything will be ok"

You don't know that, and it is an unfair assumption to make.

2) "You look great"

They will think/know it is a lie and wonder why you are fixated on their appearance.

3) "I'm sure God did this for a reason."

God does not cause harm or suffering. God has no part in death.

4) "Be strong"

Most people say this because they are uncomfortable with crying or sadness. The sick person has a right to not be strong.

5) "I know just how you feel"

You don't and can't.

Natural Family Planning Awareness Week

The Archdiocese of St. Louis will be holding a picnic to mark the beginning of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week on Sunday, July 22, at 4:00 p.m. in Faust Park.  Participants are asked to bring their own meals and chairs to enjoy both live music and the chance to meet others in the wider NFP community in St. Louis.  

Please direct inquiries and RSVPs to stlouisnfp@gmail.com or contact Elizabeth at (636) 294-2140.

Student Reflection on Joplin Service Trip

The following reflection was written by CSC member and Wash U student Ellie Kincaid:

A Week in Joplin

Ellie Kincaid

            You know this story.  As soon as you read the words “Joplin, Missouri,” you know what’s coming.  EF5 tornado.  Most costly tornado in American history.  A quarter of the city of Joplin destroyed, by some reports.  That’s what we’ve all heard, what I and other students from the Catholic Student Center at Washington University knew when we headed to Joplin to spend our 2012 spring break serving those affected by the tornado that struck nearly a year earlier.

            As soon as we arrived in Joplin after our four hour car ride from St. Louis, we went to orientation with the local chapter of Catholic Charities.  In the basement of a church, we watched a storm chaser video of the Joplin tornado.  We saw before and after videos of the area hit the hardest, the disaster area.  Little by little, I began to grasp what the phrase “EF5 tornado” really means.  It means a fat column of dark cloud spinning, wheeling haphazardly.  It means piles of lumber where houses used to be.  It means the concrete walls of Home Depot collapsing on a father with his little girls.  It means devastation. 

            At this point, we thought we were shocked.  But then we drove to the federal disaster area.  We drove from a normal-looking town onto a street with emptiness on both sides.  We stopped at what used to be St. Mary’s Catholic church.  All that remained was a large hole in the red ground and a freestanding metal cross about 25 feet tall that marked what had been the front entrance.  Not far away was what remained of St. John’s Mercy Hospital.  The tornado had plucked it off its foundation, rotated it, and set it back down.  Besides a few landmarks such as these and some newly built homes, the disaster area was desolate. 

            On our first full day in Joplin, we reported to Americorps for a work assignment.  We ended up in a cow pasture outside of the city, picking up debris from the tornado with hundreds of other students also on spring break.  The tornado winds had blown pieces of houses all over the land, and cows, being cows, were injuring themselves on bits of insulation and shingle.  We dragged trash bags through fields all day, cleaning up the fragments of a home that had once borne dark grey shingles.  We also found bent and faded photos that we set aside and pieces of toys.  I picked up a tan piece of plastic shaped like a square with an equilateral triangle connected to it.  One side had ridges on it, like siding, and there were little windows cut into the plastic.  It must’ve been part of a doll house once.

The next day, we met a homeowner.  We were assigned to replace the roof on her garage.  At the time of the tornado, she and her family had been renting a house in what became the disaster area.  She described the location to us as between the ruined high school and a free-standing bank vault. 

The homeowner told us her story when we took water and lunch breaks.  During the tornado, she and her family huddled in an interior hallway of the house.  A wall fell on top of them, but came to rest on a bookshelf above them and ended up sheltering them for the rest of the storm.  It hit the woman’s boyfriend in the back, bruising his kidneys, but may have saved their lives. 

After the tornado, all that remained of the house was one corner.  The family had nowhere to go when their landlord decided not to rebuild.  They used money from FEMA to buy a house that had been abandoned for ten years.  The house was so overgrown with brush and plants it wasn’t visible from the street.  It didn’t have central heat or air conditioning, but it was what they could afford in a post-disaster Joplin where so many were looking for a new place to live.  Little by little, they worked on the house to make it livable.  We got to be a part of that process when we replaced their leaky garage roof. 

Most of us hadn’t even been on a roof before spring break, but there we were in Joplin, stripping two layers of shingles off a roof and nailing down a new one.  The work was unlike any work I’d ever done before.  At WashU, when I say I “worked” all day, I usually mean that I did homework and studied.  That type of work is hard and can be satisfying in its way.  But roofing is completely different than studying organic chemistry or reading Shakespeare analytically, even when you’re only on the ground picking up old shingle pieces and carting them to a dumpster.  I can look at the stack of chemistry study problems I did or the essay I wrote and feel proud of my work.  But then I’ll flip the page of my planner and realize that I have even more still do to tomorrow. 

When I worked with my fellow students on that spring break, we built a roof.  We made a family’s situation a bit more livable.  We were a part of building their new life, their rising from the destruction of the tornado.  Together, we did something none of us could do on our own.  I wouldn’t count physical strength as one of my talents, and neither would any other student on the trip.  But our collective physical ability, the sum of our meager muscles, accomplished something amazing.  The day we finished that roof, we could even be proud of our unimpressive physical bodies.  Our weakest qualities became useful and valuable.  That’s satisfaction. 

During one of our lunch breaks while working on the roof, we listened to an army veteran and employee of Catholic Charities describe his experience of the tornado.  He’d been out riding his motorcycle, but when he saw airborne debris he found a ditch to lay down in.  He tied himself down with his belt to keep from blowing away.  He compared walking through the ruined streets in the aftermath to his experiences in combat.  The difference, he said, is “you can’t fight an F5.” 

His words revealed the utter helplessness many felt after the tornado, yet here he was, working in opposition to the hopeless chaos that surely seemed absolute in Joplin on May 22, 2011.  Natural disasters such as the tornado that ravaged Joplin are often called “Acts of God,” but the real place I see God’s action is afterwards, in the rebuilding.  People reprioritize their lives and start anew.  WashU students leave behind their books to raise a roof.  Joplin moves forward.  Here comes new life. 

Early in the morning on our last day in Joplin, we were back in the disaster area.  We came to remove wiring and a few walls from a house.  Most of the lots still only had sidewalks and maybe a few steps up to emptiness that used to be a front door.  But one had something else that had survived the tornado.  Along the sidewalk, a few daffodils poked out of the ground.  I guess the bulbs had been safe underground, even when trees were uprooted.  I hope whoever planted them came back to see how all was not lost that day in May.  I hope they come back and rebuild their home next to the daffodils.  

BBQ for Students

The CSC is hosting a social BBQ for students this Wednesday, July 11, from 6:00 to 8:00. If you're a non-student community member who would like to help out, please contact Mark at zaegel@washucsc.org.

Godweiser Summer Series

Join us for the first two installments of the Summer 2012 Godweiser Series. Beer will be served to those 21 and up. 

First: "Love your Neighbor as Yourself: Who is the neighbor? Looking at love through the lens of evolution and the spirituality of the Sisters of St. Joseph"

Presenters:  Sr. Linda and Santa Cuddihee

When: Tuesday, June 19, 7-8:30pm

Next up: "Faith, Mission & Disaster Relief"

Presenter: Cynthia Enghauser

When: Tuesday, June 26, 7-8:30pm

Third: "Sex in the City of God: Discovering the beauty of our bodies, desires, and relationships"

Presenter: Troy Woytek

When: Wednesday, July 25th, 7-8:30pm at the CSC

CSC in 1-2-3: Mary, Mother of God

1. When people hear that Mary is the "Mother of God" or the "Queen of Heaven," they often get nervous. Isn't God our only King and Father? When Elizabeth greeted Mary at the Visitation (Lk 1:42), she declared, "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" When we talk about Christ and His glory we, like Elizabeth, always have to emphasize Mary's role in God's plan for our salvation.
  
2.   Calling Mary the "Mother of God" safeguards Jesus' real and full humanity - Mary wasn't just a "tube" through which Jesus came into the world, but she heard the Word of God so well that He became incarnate within her womb, "consubstantial" with her very flesh! She fulfilled Jesus's own words: "Blessed is she who hears the word of God and keeps it" (Lk 11:28). That's why, as in the Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians (4:4), we can never talk about Jesus without mentioning Mary as His mother, who points us back to Him, saying, "do whatever He tells you" (Jn 2:5).  

3.   But Mary isn't just some person in the past; she is our model of Christian discipleship, keeping the Word always in her heart (Lk 2:19), she is the model of the Church, our Mother in grace (Rev 12:1), she understands experienced the pains of our sins when she suffered with Christ on earth (Lk 2:35), she brought about Jesus' first miracle at Cana (Jn 2:3) and she intercedes for her children today. Christ made her the mother of all Christians when He said from the Cross, "Son, behold your mother," (Jn 19:26-27) and we are all called to honor our heavenly Father and our spiritual Mother, Mary, by putting ourselves and the needs of our world in her immaculate hands: Pray for us now and at the hour of our death! 

Written by Br. James Rooney, OP  

Join us as we celebrate Mary and all mothers at our special Mother's Day Mass at 11am in Graham Chapel this Sunday, May 13.